Raquel Rios

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week 2017 (March 4-11), Points of Light is recognizing some of the outstanding AmeriCorps members who currently serve or who have served in our Ready Corps, Frontline Families, Financial Opportunity Corps, and ServiceWorks programs.

As a young mother completing her GED program at College Bound Dorchester, Raquel Rios was working to figure out what her next step would be. That’s when a ServiceWorks VISTA came to speak to her class and Raquel was immediately interested.

Starting as a Scholar in the program, Raquel was able to deepen her interest in service, becoming empowered to discover and use her voice to learn more about her peers and work with them to improve their community. In fact, the program was so meaningful to her she participated as a Scholar twice.

“Being a Scholar taught me leadership skills – how to be a leader, how to lead a group in a neighborhood community,” Raquel says. “I was able to learn what goes into planning a project, organizing individuals, to breakdown tasks and responsibilities for a project, and I learned tools to help me communicate with others in a professional way.”

After seeing Raquel blossom and take such a deep interest in service and leadership, one of the VISTAs from Boston Cares recommended she become a VISTA herself and inspire other young people to get more engaged. Raquel said her work as a Scholar fueled her passion for helping others and inspired her to grow the service movement.

“On the ServiceWorks AmeriCorps VISTA team and in her community, Raquel is a source of strength, positive energy, and inspiration,” said Elsa Freer, senior program manager at Boston Cares. “She continues to elevate herself professionally through her communication style and manages to stay organized while navigating many variables in her professional and personal life. It has been wonderful to watch Raquel grow and develop her confidence through her participation in ServiceWorks.”

Raquel wants to be an example to her Scholars, showing them they shouldn’t feel stuck in one place, no matter where they are. Because of her experience, she knows she can build teams that together accomplish change.

As a VISTA, Raquel has built a strong relationships with Wanda, a Scholar alum. Wanda says “I am glad the Boston Cares ServiceWorks program is offered at College Bound Dorchester. ServiceWorks helped me and my fellow students gain experience understanding how we can better our community while working together as a class to come up with projects and learning leaderships skills, and how to better communicate with one another.”

Since completing the program, Raquel has recruited Wanda to step into the program as a volunteer and Wanda has begun leading ServiceWorks sessions at Boston Cares ServiceWorks sites in Dorchester.

As she continues her year as a VISTA and inspiring others, Raquel pictures a career working with youth and community to implement change. “ServiceWorks has confirmed this is the right path for me,” she said.

Air Force Reservist Continues a Life of Service Through Frontline Families Program

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week 2017 (March 4-11), Points of Light is recognizing some of the outstanding AmeriCorps members who currently serve or who have served in our ServiceWorks, Ready Corps, Frontline Families, and Financial Opportunity Corps programs with Daily Point of Light Awards. AmeriCorps Week is a time to salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their service, thank AmeriCorps community partners, and share stories about the impact of AmeriCorps on communities and on the lives of those who serve.

When Jaime Waterbury transitioned from Active Duty to the Air Force Reserve, she wasn’t sure what to do with her time. As an Active Duty spouse, trying to find a job placement in an ever moving environment can be quite challenging. Driven by a desire to continue to help others, Jaime joined Points of Light’s Frontline Families AmeriCorps program, where she found a passion in helping empower others to volunteer. 

Service to country is an essential element of Jaime’s family. The daughter of Retired Army Colonel, Jaime served in the Air Force with two tours to Iraq. She is currently an Air Force Reservist at the 4th Combat Camera Squadron in Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, in addition to being an AmeriCorps member. Jaime’s husband is Active Duty Air Force and currently serving his 4th tour in Iraq. The couple have a one and half year old son and live near the army base Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Jaime’s inspiration for joining Frontline Families came from an experience volunteering with the American Red Cross while stationed in Ramstein, Germany. Her experience as a volunteer ignited a passion and she looked to continue volunteering with the Red Cross when she was transferred to Fort Stewart.

As a Frontline Family AmeriCorps member, Jaime is “stationed” at the local Red Cross at Winn Army Community Hospital. Jaime helps recruit, onboard and train new volunteers. She also helps the staff determine volunteer needs, promote Red Cross Reconnection Workshops and supports different volunteer run initiatives. 

A project that Jaime is particularly proud of is an event last year held in partnership with the YMCA and the Red Cross Youth Group. The purpose of the event was to teach kids how to prepare for disasters. Teens from the Youth Group led younger kids through an exercise around what they would need to take in case of fire, tornado or another disaster. Each child left with an emergency kit and information to share with their family.  “It really felt great seeing our youth teach the next generation some very valuable information,” said Jaime.

On top of her typical Red Cross duties, Jaime facilitates volunteer leader trainings. According to Jaime, “Nothing makes me happier than to guide a Veteran or Solider to building their own volunteer program – whether it be a onetime special project or building a volunteer program from the group up. I enjoy seeing the end result and how much better the community is because the dedicated volunteers I get to work with every day.”

Serving with Frontline Families has not only been rewarding, but provided a sense of stability. “The joy and experience I have felt working with the American Red Cross and all of the wonderful volunteers has been truly spectacular. The opportunities that Points of Light’s Frontline Families program has afforded me have been nothing short of amazing in the sometimes tumultuous time of being a military spouse, having to move often and looking for career that you love,” Jaime shared.

Shannon Gillen

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week 2017 (March 4-11), Points of Light is recognizing some of the outstanding AmeriCorps members who currently serve or who have served in our ServiceWorks, Ready Corps, Frontline Families, and Financial Opportunity Corps programs with Daily Point of Light Awards. AmeriCorps Week is a time to salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their service, thank AmeriCorps community partners, and share stories about the impact of AmeriCorps on communities and on the lives of those who serve.

Joining AmeriCorps after college seemed like a natural fit to Shannon Gillen, who had been volunteering all her life. Shannon had the passion, but she worried she might not have the technical skills to join the Financial Opportunity Corps. She majored in art and internal studies in college, not finance. However, as a former Volunteer Income Tax Assistance volunteer, she understood the importance and need for financial literacy programs.

According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s 2016 Financial Literacy Survey, Americans have a strong desire to improve their level of financial capability. Three in four adults (75 percent) agree – and nearly one in four (24 percent) strongly agree – that they could benefit from advice and answers to everyday financial questions from a professional.

The Financial Opportunity Corps recruits and trains volunteers as financial coaches who help people from low- and moderate-income households achieve financial stability. Shannon is the first Financial Opportunity Corps member at the Service Collaborative of Western New York in Buffalo, N.Y. She spent the first several months developing a Financial Coaching Program in partnership with local agencies. The result is six, 2-hour financial workshops that meet monthly at two different locations. Each session has a specific topic with a guest speaker. In February, a guest speaker from the local Habitat for Humanity Restore, discussed relocating and refurnishing homes at a discount and handed out coupons. In order to make the program approachable, Shannon arranged for complimentary food and childcare.

A key part of her position is recruiting and supporting volunteer financial coaches. With the support of Financial Opportunity Corps members, financial coaches meet one-on-one with participants to develop strategies to reduce debt, improve credit, start saving for emergencies, access benefits and build assets for long-term financial health.

Now that Shannon’s program has started, her typical day is busier. A good part of her day is devoted to volunteer and client management, as well as creating partnerships with local organizations. She enjoys the fact that she gets out a lot to go to tabling events and community meetings to promote the program. She loves seeing people nod their heads in agreement when she says “Everyone could use a little financial literacy.” 

Shannon is now currently working to develop a Junior Financial Coaching Program in partnership with Canisius College and the Mass Ave Project, a youth urban-farming program. This would help prepare high school juniors and seniors for the financial realities of going to college or moving out on their own.

To learn more about Service Collaborative of Western New York’s financial literacy programs, visit their website. The Financial Opportunity Corps is a partnership between Points of Light, Bank of America and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  You can also learn more about personal financial literacy tools for yourself and others by using Bank of America’s Better Money Habits.

Zach Bentley

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week 2017 (March 4-11), Points of Light is recognizing some of the outstanding AmeriCorps members who currently serve or who have served in our ServiceWorks, Ready Corps, Frontline Families, and Financial Opportunity Corps programs with Daily Point of Light Awards. AmeriCorps Week is a time to salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their service, thank AmeriCorps community partners, and share stories about the impact of AmeriCorps on communities and on the lives of those who serve.

In North Texas, where Zach Bentley serves as a Ready Corps AmeriCorps member, the local American Red Cross responds to an average of six local disasters every day, the majority of which are home fires. The best way to save lives is to prevent fires from happening in the first place, which is why Zach joined the Ready Corps program in May 2016.

Zach originally had plans of becoming a firefighter and joined Ready Corps to work with the fire department on projects benefitting the community. Ready Corps, an AmeriCorps program implemented by Points of Light in partnership the Corporation for National and Community Service, creates resilient communities by increasing disaster preparedness of individuals and families through volunteer engagement. Zach serves at the Dallas chapter of the American Red Cross.

Zach began his term of service by reviving the organization’s community events team, attending 17 events and reaching more than 5,000 people. Zach’s hard work paid off and at one event he helped the Red Cross raise more than $166,000.

A big part of Zach’s job at these events was recruiting volunteers. A lot of people Zach met were interested, but didn’t exactly know how to get involved. By talking with the volunteers and learning about their skills and abilities, Zach matched them to the right volunteer opportunity, transforming interest into engagement.  

After proving himself at these events, Zach took on the coordination of the Home Fire Prevention Campaign. Zach started by coordinating seven small events focused on installing smoke detectors. These events can be critical in saving lives.  If a fire starts in your home you may have as little as two minutes to escape. The fire death rate in homes with working smoke alarms is 51 percent less than the rate for homes without this protection.

Annually, the Red Cross hosts a large scale HFPC which typically targets about 950 homes. Zach worked with North Texas Red Cross CEO Keith Rhodes to develop a plan to expand the event without any budget. The event was a huge success, engaging three fire departments, ten different agencies and a total of 250 volunteers to reach 2,323 homes. It was one of the largest HFPC event the American Red Cross has done nationally in the history of the program.

For Zach the event was both professionally and personally rewarding. “AmeriCorps has given me the opportunity to succeed in ways I’ve never thought of and I will always be an advocate for AmeriCorps,” Zach said. “The first time I told my parents that I started working with the CEO, they did not believe me! AmeriCorps made it possible for a 19 year old kid, who was a class clown in high school to now be making history at a nonprofit and working directly with the CEO.”    

Zach’s term of service concludes this week, but he will continue to be an advocate for fire safety. You can get involved by learning more about the Red Cross’s Home Fire Campaign, which has a goal of reducing fire-related death and injuries in the US by 25 percent by 2010.

Laughter is the Best Medicine: Improv Comedian Performs for Hospitalized Children

Hope England found her calling as a tireless volunteer who brings cheer and the healing power of laughter to seriously ill children in a funny way. An aspiring actress and comic, England moved from her native Tennessee to Chicago to train for three years with the renowned Second City comedy organization, which has trained many famous comedians, from John Belushi to Tina Fey to Steve Carell. In England’s case, however, an audition in Los Angeles for NBC proved disappointing.

England says she’s now found a more rewarding path for her talents. Her heart aches for children and teens whose own life-changing disappointments involve serious injuries or illness. For England, improvisational-style comedy is a very serious way for her to help them.

England created Humor for Hope to bring the gift of laughter to Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago. She and other professionally trained comedic actors donate their time and talents several days a week.

“Once we can connect with the kids through laughter, it really opens up a place for us to go much deeper,” she says. “If they can start telling us, ‘I’m really sick’ or ‘It makes me sad that I lost my leg,’ that can open the door for doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals to better understand and treat the child’s emotional needs.”

England also uses her compassion and interpersonal skills as a full-time trauma intervention specialist, working in Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods with young victims of gun violence. She ends up seeing some of them at Comer, including a 3-year-old boy left paralyzed by a gunshot.

Many patients at Comer Children’s Hospital come from disadvantaged homes. The hospital, operated by the University of Chicago, is on the city’s impoverished south side. Whether they’re there because of illness, injury, crime, or abuse, Comer’s young patients might not have much support from their families, and all are experiencing pain and fright.

“A crucial piece is the context in which this program is happening,” says Dr. Lisa McQueen, an emergency medicine specialist at Comer.

McQueen has observed that children’s hospitals often see resources directed to younger kids. “It’s easy to convince people to give money to a bald 6-year-old with cancer; there’s not a lot of people who reach into their wallets for a 15-year-old boy who is perceived to belong to a gang,” she says.

McQueen says Humor for Hope is different in that it reaches out to all patients, including teens injured by violence.

Humor for Hope volunteer Katie Tyner says she feels especially good when humor helps a jaded, tough-skinned teen relax. McQueen notes that older kids relate better to comedy routines than to music therapy or other activities they believe they’ve outgrown.

Equally important is Humor for Hope’s positive effect on physicians, says McQueen, who also heads the hospital’s pediatric residency program: “A reality of training in a program like ours is seeing really horrible things, which can lead to doctor burnout.”

Last year, she invited Humor for Hope to a professional retreat, where young doctors participated in improv sessions to discuss their emotions. “It was the highest-rated workshop we’ve ever had,” she said.

Jessica Antes, another alumna of Second City who volunteers with Humor for Hope, says practicing improvisation teaches doctors “compassionate listening.”

“In improv, there’s no script. Participants must listen closely to every word instead of waiting to reply with memorized lines,” says Antes. “In a medical situation, it means giving each patient and family your undivided attention. You may know what their diagnosis is, but for them, this is the first time they’re going through it.”

England’s unique idea of using improv as “medicine” has proven cost-effective, portable, and adaptable to individual patients. “You don’t need any props,” she says, “and it’s a great way to use your imagination for the ones who aren’t mobile or can’t get out of their beds or who are hooked up to machines.”

“With improv, even if a child cannot leave the room, that room can become anything at all—a forest, a castle, a racetrack,” agrees Antes. “A chair can become a jet plane. Anything can become anything.”

England doesn’t rely on a repertoire of practiced jokes or stand-up shtick. She prefers to make up humor as she goes, customizing it for each child. “One thing I learned at Second City is how to read your audience,” she says. “You could use the same jokes every night, and maybe last night it was super funny and all the jokes hit, but tonight it’s not. In clinical psychology, that’s called attending to the patient, which is essentially the same thing.”

For example, England spontaneously started singing karaoke-style with a little girl who was undergoing a chest-clearing procedure as part of her treatment for cystic fibrosis, a disease that causes mucus to build up in the lungs. The vibrations of the machine caused the child’s voice to waver, and when England copied the vibrating voice in a hilarious way, the child erupted in giggles.

Another girl, who cried inconsolably on her birthday because her mother had to work, rebuffed nurses’ attempts to cheer her. England took a non-threatening approach, making faces and silly motions as she peeked in and out of the doorway until the girl laughed and invited England to enter.

“When you can laugh over something together, it really allows for a deeper connection,” England says. “They say laughter is the best medicine. It’s not like we’re poking fun at what these kids are dealing with—in a way it helps them take their mind off of what they’re dealing with. These are moments when they can lighten up.”